Session Details

Breakout 1.2:

The Keys to a Successful Hospital Rebrand

Randy McDaniels, President, McDaniels Healthcare Marketing

As president and owner of McDaniels Healthcare Marketing, Randy takes great pride in building results- oriented relationships with hospitals, physician practices and health systems. The healthcare industry faces dramatic transformation, driven by innovation, demands for transparency, and a more engaged patient population. Randy enjoys the challenge of helping his healthcare clients succeed in this changing landscape. Developing marketing communications strategies is accomplished through a collaborative approach, supported by final strategies implemented with effective agency execution support. Randy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Bradley University, is a long time member of SHSMD and other state healthcare associations.

Alyssa Engsberg, Creative Strategist, McDaniels Healthcare Marketing

One could argue that reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to a toddler before their nap is a peculiar choice, but it instilled in a young Alyssa a deep sense of curiosity that has only grown stronger over the years. Since putting the proverbial pen to paper, Alyssa has written human interest pieces for UW-Whitewater Marketing and Media Relations, budgeting blogs for financial institutions, social media campaigns for Best Buy, and award-winning work for a pet food brand and the world’s largest cold storage company. When she’s not writing for B2B and B2C brands, she’s building her own as a sci-fi/fantasy author. And on the rare occasion she’s without any sort of writing tool, you can find her browsing indie bookstores across Wisconsin or getting schooled by her dog in backyard soccer.

Jennifer Barbour, Director of Marketing & Relations, Sparta Community Hospital

Jennifer Barbour serves as Director of Marketing & Relations at Sparta Community Hospital, where she brings nearly 20 years of experience in healthcare and social services and a passion for connecting people to care. Jennifer previously served as the Community Champion for the Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program (2019 Cohort), where she worked alongside regional partners to identify and address community health needs. Today, she leads marketing, community outreach, employee engagement, and medical student recruitment efforts—plus whatever else happens to need “relating” on any given day. Jennifer is proud to share her journey of rebranding her organization from top to bottom and seeing the positive results.

Breakout 2.1:

New Rules of Privacy-First Marketing

Sophia Zey, Head of Marketing, Ours Privacy

Sophia is Head of Marketing at Ours Privacy, a HIPAA-compliant CDP and privacy platform trusted by leading health systems and medical brands across the country. She brings over a decade of digital marketing experience spanning campaign strategy, marketing operations, web development, and cross-functional team leadership, with roots in a digital marketing agency before moving into healthcare. At Ours Privacy, she leads the marketing function with a focus on helping healthcare organizations understand how privacy-first data practices can power growth.

Breakout 2.2:

TBD

Breakout 3.1:

Lights, Camera… Meh? Creating a consistent video marketing strategy that actually performs.

Tony Gnau, Founder & Chief Storytelling Officer, T60 Health

Tony Gnau is the Founder and Chief Storytelling Officer at T60 Health, the healthcare video specialists. They create strategies and content to help healthcare-related businesses attract and retain patients and customers, as well as communicate to the company’s team. Tony is a 3x Emmy Award-winning journalist and has won 18 Telly Awards for corporate videos. He is also the author of the Amazon #1 Bestseller “Lights, Camera, Impact: storytelling, branding, and production tips for engaging corporate videos.” Tony speaks regularly at major conferences like Content Marketing World, MarketingProfs B2B Forum, and HIMSS. He is also asked to speak at corporate events for companies and organizations like the American Heart Association. He has created videos for Walgreens, CommonSpirit Health, Aurora Healthcare, and HIMSS, and is the key contributor to T60’s healthcare communications educational content.

Breakout 3.2:

Hug vs. Shake: The Missing Tension in Behavior Change Campaigns

Whit Thompson, Executive Creative Director, Insight Marketing

Whit Thompson is the Executive Creative Director at Insight, where he leads brand and communications work for healthcare systems, state agencies, and mission-driven organizations. Over the past two decades, he has helped organizations across healthcare, energy, education, and financial services turn complex priorities into campaigns people actually understand and act on. His work has been recognized by Communication Arts, Graphis, and Archive. A significant portion of his work has focused on public health and behavior change, where the challenge isn’t awareness, it’s action. That experience shapes how he approaches every category. Start with what’s in the way, then build the message around removing it. Whit has presented communications strategy to executive leadership teams, institutional stakeholders, and university audiences, and regularly speaks on brand, storytelling, and how people actually make decisions. He believes most campaigns don’t fail because people don’t care. They fail because something is still in the way.

Breakout 4.1:

Telling Your Talent Story: Practical Ways to Strengthen Recruiting

Maria Nelson, President, Red Shoes Inc.

Maria Nelson brings more than a decade of public relations experience, with deep expertise in media relations, crisis communication, and internal communication. A Red Shoes team member since 2009, she specializes in strategic healthcare communications and employee recruitment campaigns, giving her strong, practical insight into the messaging challenges healthcare organizations face in attracting talent, managing change, and engaging key audiences.

Meagan Hardwick, Vice President, Red Shoes Inc.

Meagan is an award-winning marketing leader with extensive experience in brand management and strategic communications, known for helping organizations build strong brands, engage their communities and achieve meaningful results. A recipient of the Insight 40 Under 40 Award, she brings a proven track record of using strategic marketing initiatives to attract and retain talent while supporting broader organizational goals. Meagan is a creative and driven marketing and communications professional whose passion is helping others succeed, and she has been fortunate to do that through her work with organizations including the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley, the Boys & Girls Club and Red Shoes. With expertise in building, growing and protecting brands, she offers expertise on how marketing strategy can support workforce recruitment, retention and long-term organizational success.

Breakout 4.2:

TBD

Thursday, October 8

General Session:

Presentation Perfection

Emily Hartzog, President, Chartwell Agency

Emily Hartzog is President of Chartwell Agency, a nationally recognized marketing firm. Emily leads campaigns that elevate visibility, strengthen brand equity, and drive growth for clients across healthcare, education, finance, nonprofits and more. A skilled facilitator and trainer, Emily guides strategic planning sessions and professional development programs that align teams, sharpen goals, and inspire action. Her contagious enthusiasm and practical expertise have made her a sought-after keynote speaker and industry presenter, delivering high-impact sessions at conferences and association events nationwide. Emily extends her love of storytelling to a unique hobby as an owner, dancer and instructor of the Aloha Hula Girls Polynesian Dance Group.

Breakout 5.1

The seven deadly sins of healthcare marketing (and how to repent before your audience leaves you behind)

Shannon Cummins, VP, Client Growth, Unlock Health

Shannon Cummins, Vice President, Business Development at Unlock Health, has spent 40 years working with hospitals, health systems, health plans and employers developing integrated content marketing and communications programs that meet their goals and objectives. Her strategic focus and expertise in cross-platform media solutions—such as digital, print, video, mobile and social—offer the healthcare industry a full spectrum of innovative business solutions customized to engage audiences and drive bottom-line growth. She works with clients to develop content strategies that are delivered at the right time, in the right medium, to the right people.

Claire Winegar, Content Director, Unlock Health

With over a decade of digital marketing experience, Claire Winegar has found her greatest success in driving impactful brand strategies and in holistic digital planning. While having worked across several categories including Entertainment, Beauty, CPG and Finance, her passion is creating purposeful branded messaging in the healthcare space at Unlock Health. There is no better feeling than reaching patients with meaningful, purposeful content and helping physicians and hospital systems reach a larger audience outside of clinic walls.

Breakout 5.2

Winning Off the Field: Leveraging Athletic Partnerships to Grow Market Preference

Sarah Kinkade, Strategic Marketing Director, OSF HealthCare

Breakout 6.1

Balancing content optimization and brand storytelling in the AI era

Kate Kallenberger, Senior Copywriter, Vendi Advertising

Kate thrives on unearthing the unique value of every brand, digging into obscure subjects and finding the precise words to describe them. With more than a decade of experience, she simplifies complex ideas into compelling copy at the intersection of content and user experience. Over the years, Kate has partnered with hospitals, health systems and healthcare-adjacent organizations to improve how patients find, understand and engage with information online. An advocate for accessible, inclusive and SEO-friendly content, she is passionate about making the web a friendlier, more organized place for patients and healthcare consumers alike.

Breakout 6.2

How Healthcare Website Teams Decide What Not to Build

Brad Muncs, CEO, Symetris

Brad Muncs helps hospitals and health systems get more value from websites that feel expensive, complex, and politically hard to change. He founded Symetris in 2004 and brings over 22 years of experience advising healthcare marketers on alignment, governance, and ROI. His work focuses on making progress that actually ships under real constraints.